“Coaching” is, what it is NOT!

One day a man walking through the woods noticed an amazing natural phenomenon of a butterfly hatching out of the cocoon. He was curious to witness the birth of a butterfly and he continued to watch the process very closely…

Hours went by and he was observing how butterfly was squeezing its body out gradually through a tiny hole. After some more time the struggle of the butterfly seemed to be in vain.

The man was concerned and was getting restless to see the butterfly struggle to make any further progress. He felt compelled to rescue the butterfly of its ordeal.

He managed to slightly open the cocoon and made a passage for the butterfly to emerge. He was relieved and was happy about his action.

The butterfly that emerged out of the cocoon had a swollen body and a crippled wing. It could barely crawl and was not able to fly…He was utterly disappointed.

The man in his act of kindness and concern for the butterfly did not realize that the struggle made by the butterfly to break out of the cocoon was an essential part of the transformation process. This struggle is essential to force the fluid from the body into the wings which leads to lean body and strong wings. Hence, preparing the butterfly for its role in the nature with its fullest potential.

Similarly, “Coaching” space is like a cocoon for transformation to take place in a very compassionate but detached manner.
Advising, Training, Mentoring, Counselling, Consulting etc have their right place and importance.

However, unlike “Coaching” these modalities tend to provide direct help to the client which may deprive them a development opportunity and to realize their fullest potential.